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breaking news

Sideshow is the main event this weekend!

Sideshow, the annual 2-day music and arts extravaganza, is being presented for the 11th time this weekend the Yellow Cab building. What makes this particular festival so great? For starters, it’s totally free, although they’d love some donations to help keep the event going in future years. It’s also one of the few festivals that truly and equally features both visual art and musical performances.

Sideshow is a labor of love by The Dayton Circus, a creative collective who have been pushing the artistic boundaries for well over a decade. Hats off to this crew, who work really hard every year to pull together this event every May. The event starts at 5 p.m. Friday May 13th, and runs through Saturday late night. Please, do yourself a favor and stop by sometime this weekend. You’ll be delighted!

For more in-depth information about Sideshow, read more here. To find out about other awesome shows going on this weekend, keep reading below.

Friday, May 13th

Good English performs Friday night at Blind Bob’s. Shown here with your own Dayton Music Insider!

Sideshow starts at 5 p.m. today, and will have food trucks and fun stuff for you, so get down there early and party late! Again, free admission at the Yellow Cab Building (700 E 4th St.).

Love Broadway? This weekend get the “Best of Broadway” with a special collaboration between The Human Race Theatre Company and the Dayton Philharmonic. The Artistic Directors of the DPO and HRTC—Neal Gittleman and Kevin Moore, respectively—bring their complementary sensibilities together to bring out the gems spanning the history of Broadway for two spectacularly enjoyable evenings. Performances start at 8 p.m. both Friday and Saturday evenings at the Schuster Center. Tickets start at $27.

Mouth of the Architect will be back in Dayton to play their new record Path of Eight in its entirety. Grand Mammoth, Casino Warrior, and Moira are joining them for a night of “sonic destruction”. Head over to Blind Bob’s for this dynamic lineup of local talent. Doors @ 8 p.m., show starts shortly after. $5 cover, I’m assuming.

Nasty Bingo, a folkadelic rock band that is sure to please, makes their Trolley Stop debut tonight. These guys are great! 9:30 p.m. show. $5 cover.

Country fans, check out up-and-coming star Mitch Rossell from Tennessee, at JD Legends south of town in Franklin. His acoustic show runs from 7-9 p.m. $12 admission.

The Nerak Roth Patterson Band, an Indie band from Yellow Springs, are well known for their high energy eclectic music that spans across genres. Catch them at Taffy’s of Eaton from 8-11 p.m.

Sunday, May 15th

The Bach Society is presenting their highly anticipated performance of “The Music of Downton Abbey” at 4:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. They highlight the majestic music of the Downton era and lead you through the time in which the Crawley family and their downstairs attendants lived, loved, and made history! Tickets are $18 for adults and $10 for students ages 13 and over, and free admission for children ages 12 and under. For tickets click here.Want to learn more? Check out an interview I did with the Bach Society here.

If you are up for some Sunday Funday festivities, please consider coming to the From the Bar to Castlebar fundraiser. Our friend, Jessica Farra, has earned a chance to complete at the 2016 CRN Irish Dancing Championship in Castlebar, Ireland. This accomplishment is the culmination of years of dedication to her craft and a chance to compete at the highest level. Jessica is an ardent patron of local music, arts and businesses. We in the community wanted to repay her support by helping defray some of the costs for this amazing opportunity.

The Trolley Stop has graciously agreed to host a benefit for Jessica. There will be music from Trey Stone & The Ringers and Great Northern String Band, as well as dancing by Jessica. The night will end with an all-star jam. The event starts at 5 p.m., and is family-friendly until 9:30 p.m. No cover

If you are up for an adventure, check out the brand new Alchemy Rising Festival that runs from May 12-14 east of Columbus at the Frontier Ranch. This festival features the best of Ohio’s jam band scene, including our hometown boys in Subterranean. Gate prices are $90 for Thursday-Saturday admission, $75 Friday-Saturday, and $40 Saturday-only admission.

Music Podcasts:

I’m a proud co-host of the Gem City Podcast, and we have TONS of great podcasts about Dayton musicians and bands. If you have a favorite band or want to explore a band’s music, search on our site and see if we’ve done a “storyteller” episode with them. It’s a great way to learn more! This week we did a storyteller episode with The Wretched Few, which you can listen to here.

I had the great honor and privilege of interviewing the Dayton Philharmonic’s Conductor, Neal Gettleman, and the Concert Master, Jessica Hung, about the DPO as well as the exciting new opera that’s been written for the Dayton Performing Arts Alliance, called The Book Collector. You can learn more about our amazing performing arts organizations and this world premiere here.

Speaking of podcasts, make sure to mark your calendar for the first ever Dayton Podfest on June 3rd. We will be recording a live podcast with all the Dayton-based podcasts (Learning Leaders Show with Ryan Hawk, Fresh Dope, Bottom of the Bottle, Completely Straight) as well as an awesome live music show with Tino, Grenades!?, and Nightbeast to keep the party going! Food trucks and beer on hand as well. Admission is only $5.00, and doors open at 6:00pm. Podcasts begin at 7:00 p.m. Can’t wait to see you there!

As always, thank you for supporting live music!

Your Dayton Music Insider,

Libby Ballengee

Note to Readers: The information above is for May 13th-15th. If I don’t list a price, it’s because I’m not sure what the price is. Generally cover charges for local shows are $5. Please click the hyperlinks to find out more about the bands, venues and events, including start times, directions, and ticket availability. As you can see, I try to promote as many shows as possible, but there will be some I miss. Keep me in the loop: @LibbyBallengee. Check out the latest shows I’m promoting @theVenusChild. You can also keep up with my adventures on Instagram here.